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St-Pierre legend grows with Diaz dismantling

Georges St-Pierre, left, from Canada lands a knee to the body of Nick Diaz from the United States during their UFC 158 welterweight title fight in Montreal, Saturday, March 16, 2013. Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

MONTREAL — With each victory, each near-flawless performance, each vanquished foe, Georges St-Pierre builds his legend as one of the greatest competitors in Ultimate Fighting Championship history.

Nick Diaz is now part of St-Pierre’s tale. And what a story that chapter was.

In a showdown St-Pierre said he wanted more than any since he earned a championship rematch against UFC legend Matt Hughes more than five years ago, the 31-year-old St-Pierre (24-2) vanquished antagonist Nick Diaz in the welterweight title main event of Saturday’s UFC 158. In front of a capacity crowd of 20,145 paying $3.7 million at Montreal’s Bell Centre, St-Pierre controlled the 25-minute contest from start to finish on his way to a unanimous-decision victory over Diaz (27-9, 1 NC). All three judges scored the match 50-45 in favour of the hometown hero, whose every move was greeted with roars.

“It was a fight that everybody wanted to see, a fight that I wanted to have as well. I’m happy it’s finally done,” said St-Pierre, who admitted at the post-fight news conference that the head games surrounding the fight — including yelling and confrontations backstage hours before the bout about St-Pierre’s hand wraps — were “very demanding, very stressful … It was a tough fight for me.

“I have to go to another chapter of my career.”

When Diaz returned to UFC in June 2011, he and St-Pierre were set to meet at UFC 137 that October but Diaz was lost the title shot after missing media events in Toronto and Las Vegas. Diaz riled up the champion, however, accusing him of faking a minor knee injury and ducking the welterweight contenders. An attempt to rebook the bout for UFC 143 in February 2012 also failed, after St-Pierre suffered a more serious torn anterior cruciate ligament that sidelined him for one year. Also during that time, Diaz tested positive for marijuana metabolites at UFC 143 and was suspended for 12 months.

Once both were finally healthy and able to compete again, St-Pierre insisted he face Diaz before anyone else. He felt insulted when Diaz questioned his heart. He was angry that Diaz confronted him in a Las Vegas hotel during UFC 137 fight week, when St-Pierre was only there as an observer.

In the last month, Diaz has accused St-Pierre of using steroids, bemoaned the fact St-Pierre has more endorsements and media opportunities, and wondered why most fans — even soccer moms near his home in Stockton, Calif. — root against him. St-Pierre, meanwhile, seemed more agitated than he’s ever been. He appeared determined to let Diaz know that he wasn’t afraid of him, at one point calling him an “uneducated fool.”

It made for an intriguing buildup to the fight. The only part of their tale that wasn’t known was the conclusion.

Diaz figured to have his best shot at victory if he could get the fight standing, where he could use his high-quality boxing and overwhelm St-Pierre by sheer quantity of punches. In his last nine fights, Diaz has averaged 8.28 significant strikes per minute, more than any UFC fighter in that time. St-Pierre, meanwhile, had won his previous 10 fights thanks largely to some of the best wrestling in the sport and a powerful ground game. He’s landed the most significant strikes (1,048) and total strikes (2,188) in UFC history, with a 78.1 per cent takedown rate, best in company history.

St-Pierre was indeed dominant with his takedowns but he was also quicker to the punch, especially in the first three rounds. St-Pierre, refusing to be emotional and get goaded into a brawl, took Diaz down within 15 seconds of the fight starting and kept Diaz on the mat the entire first round, landing elbows and short punches. The second round was more of the same, although it took St-Pierre 40 seconds to score the takedown and keep the action there. Diaz defended takedown attempts better in the third round and in the final minute was starting to land some punches, at which point GSP quickly landed a takedown to ride out the round.

Diaz talked trash and taunted St-Pierre throughout the night, trying to goad him into a brawl. He greeted St-Pierre at the cage door rather than wait in his corner, he lowered his hands daring St-Pierre to knock him out, and more than once asked St-Pierre if “that’s all you got?” But St-Pierre stayed calm and stuck to his game plan, keeping out of boxing range when they were standing and going for a takedown when the opening was there.

“He fought a perfect fight,” said UFC president Dana White.

Diaz was in St-Pierre’s face after every round, including nearly slapping him at one point. White thought Diaz should have been docked a point for that, but Diaz said he didn’t intend to make contact.

“I was just being really mean out there,” said Diaz. “I wanted him to try to hurt me, to finish me.”

When the fight was over, Diaz shook hands with St-Pierre and raised the champion’s arm. They even exchanged a smile, though St-Pierre admitted he wasn’t sure how Diaz would react when he went to shake his hand.

“There is some sort of camaraderie,” between combatants after such a fierce battle, added St-Pierre.

“You put on a show together, you give everything you have.”

Diaz, who in the hours after the fight alternated between discussing retirement and saying he wants big-money fights to keep going, gave credit to St-Pierre but insisted that he things would be different if they met again.

“He’s a great fighter. He does what it takes to win,” said Diaz, later saying to St-Pierre, “As long as I’m here right now, I want a rematch. I think I can beat you.”

With the victory, St-Pierre extended to 11 the second-longest winning streak in UFC history. He now holds the record for most welterweight title defences, with eight, breaking a tie he held with UFC legend Matt Hughes. In addition, he also tied middleweight champion Anderson Silva for most championship fights won, with 11. His eight straight title defences are second-most in company history, behind Silva’s 10.

He was looking forward to a nice vacation following Saturday’s fight. After beating Carlos Condit in November, St-Pierre travelled to Paris and also Marrakech, Morocco. He told few people where he was going. (“Turn off my cellphone, go somewhere nobody knows, nobody cares,” he said in a recent interview.) He also used his time off to take in some movies and eat whatever he wanted, devouring plates of barbecue chicken and french fries, Coke and chocolate cake.

Before he has to start thinking about No. 1 contender Johny Hendricks, or is questioned more about a potential dream fight against middleweight champion Anderson Silva, St-Pierre was anxious for a bit more of that relaxation time, to get away from the spotlight. He takes his break with peace of mind, knowing he had dominated a talented, dangerous veteran in Diaz.